BPL 3 Match 4 Review: Barisal Bulls vs Rangpur Riders, Bulls steal a stunning victory

BPL 3 Match 4 Review: Barisal Bulls vs Rangpur Riders, Bulls steal a stunning victory: Rangpur Riders faced Barisal Bulls in their second encounter of the Bangladesh Premier League. However, it was not a sweet evening for them as they could not repeat the stunning performance from the previous game. After a thrilling 2 wicket victory in the last match yesterday, Rangpur could not produce the same chasing efforts in today’s match against Bulls and lost the match by 13 runs.

RR won the toss and put BB to bat. The decision turned out to be very effective as Thisara Perera wrecked havoc immediately. Perera struck twice in the 2nd over, sending both the openers Rony Talukdar (1 run) and Shahriar Nafees (1 run) back to the dugout. Shakib Al Hasan came in to bowl the next over and dismissed Brendan Taylor. It was a doubtful decision from the umpire as there were doubts whether the ball had nicked the bat or not before wicket-keeper Mohammad Mithun took the catch. The downfall did not stop as in the next over Perera struck again off the last delivery of the 4th over. He trapped Sabir Rahman (11 runs from 8 balls) leg before. The Barisal Bulls were now under fire as they were reeling at a pitiful score of 15/4 at the end of 4 overs. It was Perera who broke their back.

The two new batsmen, captain Mahmuddulah Riyad and Nadif Chowdhury, now had the burden of taking the Bulls’ innings forward. They did a great job and revived the innings by forming a vital 85 runs partnership between them, eventually saving the face of Barisal Bulls. Shakib, however, got better of the captain in the 16th over. Mahmuddulah’s match saving innings of 51 runs from 43 ball came to an end after his wild slog was caught by Perera at deep mid-wicket.

BB reached a respectable total of 155/9 after 20 overs with the help of some aggressive batting by the lower middle order batsmen S. Prasanna (12 runs off just 4 balls), Kevon Cooper (21 from 13 balls) and tail-enders M. Sami (15 from 5 balls) and Taijul Islam (7 runs off 3 balls).

Shakib Al Hasan (3/29) and T. Perera (3/29) were the standout performers for Rangpur Riders. But, the bowlers, Saqlain Sajib (1/37), Abu Jayed (0/36) and Mukhtar Ali (0/16; 2 overs) proved very expensive and ruined the early efforts by Perera and Shakib Al Hasan.

Rangpur Riders began their chase in style as Soumya Sarkar started off with two boundaries off the first over. Sarkar looked comfortable, but Sami struck back in his second over to dismiss him at the score of 17 runs. Shakib came in to bat at number three but struggled to score runs. However, Simmons kept pushing the scoreboard with boundaries every over. The struggling Shakib Al Hasan was dismissed by Kevon Cooper in the 6th over and departed at the score of 6 runs. The next batsman in was last match’s hero Misbah-ul-Haq. But, Barisal Burner tightened their grip over the match as S. Prasanna removed Lendl Simmons. Simmons with an aim of pushing the run rate upwards tried to loft him but got caught at long on by Sami.

The onus was on Misbah and wicket-keeper Mohammad Mithun to produce a match-winning partnership. But, the hope of RR fans again was jolted when Misbah faintly edged a Copper delivery to wicket-keeper Brendan Taylor. The bowling change worked and Barisal Bulls had now got the big fish. All-rounder Thisara Perera and Mithun had a daunting tasking at their hands now. Both tried their best and stitched a 66 runs partnership between them. The partnership ended after Perera (17 from 18 balls) was run out in the 19th over and Mithun (55 runs from 32 balls) also fell in the same over.

The match was heading towards an exciting finish. 15 runs were required off the last over and Rangpur had Darren Sammy at the crease. The 20th over was dramatic. The hopes of the RR fans were pinned on Darren Sammy who had helped them win last night.

However, Kevon Cooper was exceptional and removed Sammy off his first delivery. Cooper did not give any chance to the tail-enders and ensured that there was no turnaround in the final moments of the match. He sent Mukhtar Ali and Abu Jayid to the dugout of the successive deliveries to seal the match for BB.

It was a wonderful comeback by Barisal Bulls. To recover from being 4 wickets down and post 155 and then defend it is a commendable job on any day. However, the Rangpur Riders were unable to ride on the momentum of the last match and faltered completely today.

Brief scores:

Barisal Bulls – 155/9 in 20 overs (Mahmadullah Riyad 51; Shakib Al Hasan 3/23)

Rangpur Riders- 142 all out 20 overs (Mohammad Mithun 55; Kevon Cooper 5/15)